October 24, 2015 ~ Family Photos

October 23, 2015 ~ Hiking IceBox Canyon

We were planning on camping this weekend but that didn't turn out. The whole fun of camping is a wood campfire...well the camping locations in red rock didn't allow wood campfires, so our camping weekend turned into just hiking. We hiked icebox canyon and it was beautiful! I never thought the desert could be so beautiful and who knew we had such beautiful nature only 30 minutes away from our house. While hiking I sadly lost Luke's orange sun glasses from Holland while trying to get down from the waterfall. Just my luck the sunglasses went in the farthest and deepest corner of the creek. I felt really bad but there was no way to get them. After hiking we tried to go to the sloan dry lake bed to have our wood campfire but I couldn't find the turn off in the dark so we just had our foil dinners at home and watched a movie. The evening turned out differently then I thought it would but it was still a lot of fun being with each other and being in nature. 

October 2, 2015 ~ Greek Festival

Every year they have a Greek festival at the Greek orthodox church across the street from our chapel and we have wanted to go for a while and we finally went this year. There was an entrance fee and the food was carnival priced food but it was amazing! I decided that Greek food (at least the stuff we tried) is my favorite!! We had Greek salad, which has all the stuff I like on it and a pita bread taco type thing. For dessert we had Loukoumathes, which was like a scone with honey and powder sugar on it. I loved the food but I have to admit the Greek dancing was boring to watch. After watching for a little while they let us join in and of course I took advantage of it! It was like a Congo line but you put your arm over the person next to you and you do a grape vine type of dance. It was a lot of fun and I wanted Luke to join in but he didn't. After the festival we toured the Greek orthodox church, which surprisingly had similar beliefs and rituals as our church. They baptize my immersion, bless the sick with healing oil, have male priests administer the sacrament, and have the holy of holies. Another thing they do that I thought was interesting is that the priests do marry (some church's they are "married" to the church) and family is seen as important.  It was a good night learning about a different culture and having fun together. 

September 26, 2015 ~ Bailey's Wedding

My coworker and friend Bailey is getting married!! It has been fun seeing her plan the wedding and getting so excited to marry her best friend. The wedding was at the Black Mountain Golf Club and it was good weather for a wedding. It was fun being with all of the coworkers outside of work and seeing Bailey walk down the isle and get married. Brooke came down from Idaho for the wedding and was actually one of Bailey's bridesmaids! When the toasts started the parents gave a toast, a sister gave a toast, and then it was silent (even though the mic was open to anyone). I felt that one of the coworkers should do a toast and I told Brooke she should (since she was a bridesmaid and all) but she didn't want to! It continued to be silent and started to get awkward so I grabbed the mic to represent OIH and the coworkers table. When the dancing started it was awkward at first because no one was dancing but we (meaning I) got all of the coworkers dancing and it turned out to be fun. It was a nice occasion and Bailey looked so happy!  Ps. I chopped my hair short and colored it. Its a change but I love it! 

Comment September 15, 2015 ~ Luke's First Day of Work

September 15, 2015 ~ Luke's First Day of Work 

September 15, 2015 ~ Welcoming Kloee Marie Hoer to the world

Mommy and Daddy Hoer finally are GRANDPARENTS!! Everyone was of course very excited but of course the first niece/grandbaby had to be born in Puerto Rico! In Puerto Rico they don't usually perform epidurals for labor and delivery and so they didn't even have a doctor that performs them...so Chelsea was forced to have a natural labor and birth. She also had to be induced because the baby (she didn't have a name until after being delivered) wasn't growing inside her and they were worried the placenta didn't have enough nutrients to keep the baby alive till her due date or until she went into labor naturally. I will let Chelsea tell the story because she can obviously tell it better since I wasn't able to be there.

Birth story:This was probably the scariest day of my life. Not only had I already spent 4 days in the hospital being monitored, but everyone only spoke Spanish and I felt so far from home. Getting an epidural in Puerto Rico is not really an option for some cultural reason! So I did a lot of research on natural births and was confident I could do it somehow. Waking up that day knowing I was going to be induced and doing it natural, I honestly had no idea what to expect! They started the pitosin around 10am and I felt great until my water broke at 4pm! I felt like I was in a movie. It didn't feel real! It hit me when the contractions started that I was way over my head. I'd never felt pain like that in my life! It should be illegal to feel that kind of pain! Bryce and my Doula coached me through it but it didn't take long until I was screaming for someone to get me the drugs!! Haha I think I even grabbed Bryce's chest and almost broke skin I wanted drugs so bad! Ha! Within minutes I was ready to push! It still didn't feel real, it was happening so fast! After pushing my little heart out the doctor told me to open my eyes and look down! I was so scared but I finally did and saw this little head full of dark hair and her long fingers! The doctor then told me to finish pulling her out! I did and put her on my stomach! I couldn't believe how perfect she was! I remember seeing those long eyelashes and thinking how pretty she was! Kloee Marie Hoer arrived at 6:27pm, weighing 5lbs 15oz, and 19in long. Only 2.5 hrs of labor! We felt so blessed to welcome such a beautiful little girl straight from Heaven into our family! And we can't thank Cynthia enough for rushing out to Puerto Rico and take care of us and the baby. We never could of gotten through it without you! From the late night feedings of Kloee to even spoon-feeding me and calming me down during my anxiety attacks to building furniture and cooking every meal! I've never felt so loved and taken care of in my life.  And thank you Steve for making it all possible and sparing your amazing wife for those 9 days! We are so beyond excited to finally make you guys grandparents! Can't wait until the next family vacation, Kloee has no idea how much fun the Hoer clan can be!

September 7, 2015 ~ Mt. Charleston

Since it was Labor Day and everyone had work off we decided to take advantage of the holiday and head to Mount Charleston for a picnic! It was nice just getting away from everything for the afternoon, enjoy each others company and just enjoy nature. We each packed a lunch and we played the "Not so Newly-Wed Game" a game I got off a website called the dating divas. It was a fun game and we learned more about each other and maybe even more about our spouse. Sam also brought his drone and besides scaring everyone because it sounded like a swarm of bees he got some pretty cool footage.